


Of Peace and Time and Tenderness

by brianmay_be



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Berchtesgaden, Bottom Speirs, Carwood's really really in love, Emotions, Established Relationship, Fluff, Lots of Descriptive Words (Sorry), M/M, Peacetime, Post-Canon, Romance, Smut, Tenderness, True Love, artistically written smut, he's really subby as hell, speirton - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23412976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brianmay_be/pseuds/brianmay_be
Summary: In the mountains, it was a world apart. Ron was so gentle these days, sweet and pliable and willing under Carwood’s hands. He preened under Carwood’s touch. Carwood took it slow, savoring it, savoring the abundance of peace and time and tenderness they had now, while the waves lapped on the shore and the sun shone more kindly than it had since they landed at Normandy.♥♥♥After the war, Carwood and Ron stay in Berchtesgaden, where the sun is warm and peace is sweeter than anything they could have imagined.
Relationships: Carwood Lipton/Ronald Speirs
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	Of Peace and Time and Tenderness

Carwood had never seen his lover look more beautiful than he did now. The sunkissed glow of his skin, freckles dusting his cheeks; the way his curls were lightened to a caramel color with the summer, mussed by his swim and dried by the breeze. Yes, Ron had been beautiful in winter: strong and powerful in the steely cold of Foy, quiet and relieved in the warm glow of the chapel. Carwood had loved him and thought him beautiful then, but this side of Ron he was privileged to know and love was something else entirely, closer to who Ron really was, closer to who he had been before the war.

Ron was beautiful in his youthfulness, in the ease and familiarity of living without war. He swam in the lake, whooping and laughing like a teenager as the water sparkled and sunlight caught on his skin. He played baseball with his friends, running because he wanted to, eager to compete in something that wasn’t life or death. He drank champagne and orange juice, savoring the taste of fruit and summer and fizzy alcohol that wasn’t to drown anything out. He laughed louder and harder than Carwood had ever heard, because he was happy and he was alive and the ache in his bones was washed out by the warm sun on his face and the chance to play, finally, after so many months of war.

He made love to Carwood with that same boyish eagerness, endearing and hungry and full of soft laughter and playful teasing and the prettiest smiles Carwood had ever known. Ron’s skin was warm against his, like he’d taken some of the sun inside with him, and he smelled of clean air and meadows and sunshine.

“Please,” he said, high and needy, his curls tousled and his cheeks flush with pleasure. Carwood would have given him the moon if he’d asked, and pushed into him until his hips met Ron’s skin. Ron gave a keening moan of pleasure as Carwood began to move, setting a steady pace as he watched his lover come undone.

“You’re beautiful,” Carwood said, meaning it more than he’d ever meant anything. “Beautiful, beautiful thing. I love you.”

Ron’s hips pushed up as he sought more, more of Carwood, more of life and love and this rapturous ecstasy of being here and safe and under the man he loved more than any of it. The sound of the water mixed with the sound of Ron’s pretty cries as Carwood touched him, one hand steady on his hip, the other stroking him in time with the rocking of his hips.

Carwood leaned down to kiss at Ron’s neck, marvelling at the feel of Ron, the sound of his moans, the rightness of their bodies pressed together. Ron carded his hand through Carwood’s hair, telling him how much he loved him. When Carwood lifted his head again his breath caught in his chest like it did every time he saw Ron below him, a cheeky smile caught somewhere in the pleasure that colored Ron’s cheeks and softened his features. 

Loving him before had been different; in the deep, aching cold of Bastogne, they snatched whatever time they could and found more warmth than anything else as they lay together. Both had been tired, tense, wound so tightly from pain and cold and fear. They were desperate for tenderness and held the winter back with a sudden, brilliant flame, but war loomed. Love was sweet but it was brief, and both were greedy for each other in the fear that they might lose one another.

In the mountains, it was a world apart. Ron was so gentle these days, sweet and pliable and willing under Carwood’s hands. He preened under Carwood’s touch. Carwood took it slow, savoring it, savoring the abundance of peace and time and tenderness they had now, while the waves lapped on the shore and the sun shone more kindly than it had since they landed at Normandy.

“You’re so good,” Carwood said breathlessly, his hands traveling over every inch of Ron’s skin. “Wonderful, _perfect_.” 

He felt himself get closer as Ron’s breath hitched, the wave curling deeper between his hips, the flame burning ever brighter the more Ron gasped; Carwood steadied himself and focused on drawing Ron out as much as he could without bringing him over the edge. Carwood’s gaze traced the line of his lover’s jaw, following his pulse down to his collarbone to the strong, rugged beauty of his chest. 

“God,” Ron managed, his heart beating furiously in his chest as Carwood drew him out, patient and skillful. Carwood’s hands, rough from hard work and yet still so gentle, sparked flame wherever they touched. “Yes, please, _please_.”

If you had told Carwood the day he’d met Ron that the stoic leader of such mythical proportions would sing as pretty as a songbird in bed, all summer glow and rosiness as he touched as much of Carwood as he could reach, he wouldn't have believed you. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined himself lucky enough to know Ron like this, to love him like this.

“Oh, Carwood, _please_ do that again,” he said, sweet and needy. His hair was damp from sweat and his chest rose and fell with greedy breaths. “God, _oh_ \- ”

And suddenly Carwood couldn’t stand to make him wait any more; he twisted his hand and felt Ron come undone before the moan even pitched from his mouth. The sight of him drove Carwood over the edge, the great swell of the wave crashing over him, the fire bursting into color and sparks; he tried to catch his breath in between kisses to Ron’s chest, saying his name like a prayer.

Carwood felt the sting of tears as he hovered over Ron, watching that tired and happy smile he loved more than anything beam up at him, those laugh lines by his dark eyes so full of gentleness, looking up at him through long lashes.

“What is it?” Ron asked with a soft laugh. Carwood was so _emotional_ now, all soft and tender in ways Ron had never seen during the war. He loved it more than anything else that had come to them in peacetime, that Carwood finally felt safe enough to experience his emotions rather than shutting them off. Ron put a hand to Carwood’s cheek, thumb tracing the thin white scar there. Carwood didn’t say anything, just put his mouth to Ron’s and kissed him slowly, all gentleness and soft touches.

“Come here,” Ron said, easing Carwood down next to him on the bed. They lay facing each other, listening to their breathing and the sound of birdsong echoing off the lake.

“I love you,” Ron said. He brushed back Carwood’s hair and kissed him. “You know that?”

Carwood breathed a laugh. “Of course I know that.”

Ron smiled. “Just checking.”

Carwood studied that face he loved so dearly, wondering how he’d been lucky enough to have this. He hadn’t thought he’d make it out of the war with his life, much less with Ron and the sunshine and so much time to love him and be loved by him.

“I love you too,” Carwood said. After everything, the war was worth it for this. “I love you more than anything.”

**Author's Note:**

> come see my on my hbo war tumblr, [@eugenebondurant](https://eugenebondurant.tumblr.com/), and uwu over speirton with me :)


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